ByDanielD
Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere novels take place across a range of planets, in various stages of technological development. Most of the stories Sanderson has written thus far take place in worlds that are somewhere between the middle ages and the 19th century — and yet there are some characters that we know are moving between planets. But how?
Well, while the void of space may separate the planets of the Cosmere, in the Cognitive Realm — the realm of thoughts — distances are different. Perhaps even more importantly, it seems that you can go from one planet to another without traversing the void of space, which is something of a game-changer.
There are many reasons for a character to travel between planets: collecting weapons or resources, research, or simply running away from people who want to catch them and do bad things to them. Below, we’ve listed all the known worldhoppers in the Cosmere, plus noted a few possible, but unconfirmed travelers of the Cognitive Realm.
SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for most of the books in the Cosmere.
Baon is a member of the Seventeenth Shard who participates in worldhopping activities. Little is known about his background or motivations, though it is known that he has the ability to use sand mastery.
A seon from Sel bonded to Kaise.
Demoux is a former soldier from Scadrial who becomes involved with the Seventeenth Shard, an organization of worldhoppers. He appears in “Mistborn” and “The Stormlight Archive” series.
Design is a Cryptic spren bonded to Hoid. Hoid rescued Design from occupied Kholinar, and eventually ends up with Hoid on Komashi running a successful Noodle Shop.
Mask-wearing sibling of Iyatil, Dlavil was born in Silverlight, the ancient Cognitive Realm city, but is from South Scadrial genetically. He doesn’t seem very trusting.
This pale, mustachioed spy was employed by House Venture during the Final Empire, and later ended up on Roshar, working for Dalinar Kholin. He was well-trusted by the Kohlin household, and was sent on the mission to Lasting Integrity when Adolin and Shallan seek the Honorspren in Shadesmar.
Galladon is a native of Sel who possesses knowledge of the Dor and the Shaod. He is seen at the Purelake in the company of a couple of other worldhoppers — Demoux and Baon — in an interlude in Stormlight Archive.
Hoid is one of the most enigmatic figures in the Cosmere, appearing in various forms and under numerous aliases throughout different series. He possesses the ability to worldhop and has vast knowledge of the cosmere’s workings.
Mask-wearing Iyatil is the sibling of Dlavil, and was born in Silverlight, the ancient Cognitive Realm city. However, her heritage is Scadrian, specifically of the southern continent — this is made clear by the mask she always wears. Mraize refers to her as his babsk, suggesting that she is a high-ranking member of the Ghostbloods.
Relatively mundane as far as Worldhoppers go, Kaise is a clever woman from Arelene on Sel, and a member of the Ghostbloods on Scadrial.
Khrissalla is a scholar with a deep understanding of Investiture and the Cosmere. She travels between planets to study and document various magical systems and phenomena.
Masaka is a Sleepless we meet in The Nightmare Painter book — she expresses being tired with war, isn’t very good at imitating a human, but prefers to be seen as one. On Komashi, she works as a Nightmare Painter.
A shape-shifting Kandra working with the Shard(s) of Harmony, MeLaan first supported Wax and Wayne on Scadrial. She was later sent by Harmony to fight Trell’s influence by doing unknown activities off-world.
Mraize is a Ghostbloods member who is likely from Thaylenah. He has bonded an Aviar, and posesses other powerful Cosmere objects such as white sand from Taldain, an aether, and a seon — so while it may not technically be confirmed that he’s visited other worlds, it seems incredibly likely. He works to recruit Shallan to the Ghostbloods in the Stormlight Archive novels.
Nazh is a meticulous cartographer and scholar who assists Khrissalla in her studies. He is responsible for creating detailed maps and annotations of different worlds.
Nightblood is a sentient sword created on Nalthis with a powerful and dangerous intent. It appears on Roshar alongside in the posession of the Herald Nale, who gives the sword to Szeth-son-Neturo.
The Sorceress from Tress and the Emerald Sea, Riina is an Elantrian member of the Ire as well as an Awakener. She seems to take great pleasure in cursing anyone who bothers her. After being thwarted in the Ire’s plot to take up a Shard on Scadrial, she settles on Lumar — in large part so she can tormet people and avoid danger (as Lumar is not technologically advanced when she arrives).
Another Elantrian (in case the name didn’t give it away), who somehow ends up as a fortune teller and ligthouse keeper in the Cognitive Realm of Roshar.
The Sleepless are a mysterious species capable of taking various forms, as their bodies are made up of swarms of smaller creatures, called “hordelings”. They appear on Roshar and Komashi and are known for their knowledge and enigmatic nature.
Prasanva goes by Twinsoul while working with the Ghostbloods on Roshar. He has bonded an aether, Silajana, which allows him the ability to turn water into roseite (a kind of rock or crystal) — he is able to create any object he understands the workings of with his aether.
Sigzil was a member of Bridge 4 in the Stormlight Archive novels. He eventually became a Windrunner, bonding an Honorspren and swearing the 4th ideal. At some point, Sigzil became a Dawnshard, gaining the ability to Skip from planet to planet. In Sunlit Man, he has been fleeing the Night Brigade for some time, and has visited a number of Shard planets.
Shai is a Forger from Sel, able to create Soul Stamps. In the short story The Emporer’s Soul, Shai restores the mind of the emporer Ashravan. Later, she left Sel and found her way into the employ of the Ghostbloods — as Moonlight, she plays a pivotal role in the events of Mistborn Era 2 on Scadrial.
Another Kandra, Ulaam appears on the Crow’s Song in Tress and the Emerald Sea. Unlike MeLaan, he makes no real attempt to appear human.
Vasher is a Returned and Awakener from Nalthis who possesses advanced knowledge of BioChromatic Breath. He appears on Roshar under the alias Zahel, where he teaches swordsmanship.
Vivenna is an Idrian princess and an Awakener holding Biochromatic Breaths. She appears on Roshar under the name Azure, leading the Kholinar Wall Guard and wielding a strange shardblade.
A powerful Dragon who has probably been around as long as any known character in the Cosmere, Xisis is seen in Tress and the Emerald Sea; he’s there studying the planets Aethers. He seems to have a number of powers, including Awakening, and the ablity to control the spores of the spore sea.
These Worldhoppers have been spotted in the books, but we don’t know enough about the character to give them a proper bio (yet), or they aren’t around anymore:
These characters are likely to be Worldhoppers, but the text of Brandon’s novels have yet to confirm that fact. Note that this section is incomplete, as there are some new or minor characters not listed.
This mysterious member of the Seventeenth Shard is a Terriswoman who is in a relationship with General Demoux. We haven’t seen much of her yet, but Brandon Sanderson has spoken of her during some QnA sessions. As Demoux is a known Worldhopper, it seems likely his love interest is as well, especially given her involvement with the 17th shard.
Almost certainly a Terriswoman, we can assume Axindweth is a Worldhopper since, y’know, she’s probably Scadrial. This has yet to be confirmed, however her name and the fact that she wears a bunch of rings (likely metalminds) make it fairly certain.
Technically, this is confirmed, since Brandon Sanderson has said that Denth has “spent a lot of time on Roshar”. Since it doesn’t show up anywhere in the books, however, we’ll leave this as speculation for now, in the spirit of this being a Cosmere-aware compendium.
Let us know if we missed a character — even if it’s just a speculation — by dropping us a line in the comments below!
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